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Buyer beware: Bills players said Williams ‘checked out’ on them

Defensive end Mario Williams was sent packing from Buffalo after managing just five sacks this past season as he criticized coaches and teammates criticized him. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The marriage of defensive end Mario Williams to the Buffalo Bills didn’t take long to fall apart.

Just nine months ago, Williams was pooh-poohing the loss of his defensive coordinator, saying change always happens in the NFL. No need to worry, he said. Things would be fine.

Not even halfway through the first season under coordinator Dennis Thurman, Williams began grumbling about the change from the 4-3 defense to a 3-4, and the complaints escalated as the production plummeted.

But that’s not the only reason Williams went from having a $100 million contract to being out of work and signing with the Dolphins on Tuesday. The worst of it by far was that as the season wore on, teammates anonymously charged Williams with violating a cardinal rule:

That’s not all. Sounding what today could be construed as a warning sign to the Dolphins, one Bills player said, “To not give a crap like that shows why teams need to think twice before investing that much in one guy. We could easily have five solid players contributing than one guy who doesn’t give a (bleep).”

Williams’ poor season and his age (31) meant he didn’t command anywhere near the $100 million deal the Bills handed him in 2012 to lure him from Houston. Miami will pay him a base salary of $4.49 million this season with a $4 million signing bonus.

Speaking to the South Florida media via conference call Wednesday afternoon, Williams said he should be judged by what happens this season, not last, and that 2015 was discussed with the Dolphins.

“It’s going to be shown who Mario Williams is,” Williams said. “Obviously, we got to talk about certain things, and we all have to come to an understanding. There’s nothing better than knowing, now, that I’m a Dolphin and how things are going to play out and (how I will) be used in the system … with my fellow teammates that everything is going to be fine. It’s going to be right back to where it needs to be.”

Williams is a cheaper option that Olivier Vernon, whose transition tag was rescinded and is a free agent. But before Williams was handed a cent from Mike Tannenbaum and the Dolphins, who run a 4-3, the organization, you would think, had to ask tough questions that Williams had to anticipate.

The first clear-cut sign that Williams and Thurman weren’t meant for each other came only six games into the season when Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton threw three touchdown passes and walked away from a 34-21 victory with a jersey as spotless as when he warmed up.

Mario Williams

“We don’t make the calls as players,” Williams repeatedly told reporters inquiring about how Buffalo’s vaunted front line had become invisible. The inference was clear: Don’t ask me. Go ask the coaches.

Anyone closely following the Bills had to be concerned. Late May of 2015 was when Williams assured the public the Bills would incorporate all the good things they learned from outgoing defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and “keep it going.”

Head coach Rex Ryan envisioned the Bills going from the No. 4 defense in the NFL to No. 1.

They ended up 19th.

Sacks? From No. 1 in the league with 54 to 31st with 21.

It would be unfair to pin any drastic changes — positive or negative — on just one player, but the focus for many in Western New York was on Williams. He went from averaging 12.6 sacks over his first three seasons in Buffalo to five in 2015. Tackles? From averaging 42 per season to 19.

Williams wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. But neither were others.

Perhaps the point of no return came around mid-December, when Williams missed much of a week with an illness. Some inside the facility weren’t so sure he was sick. Williams was angered that “insurgents” were talking about him behind his back. Ryan did little to put out the fire, saying “drastic” changes would take place before the 2016 season. With a potential $13 million in cap savings hanging in the balance, it was easy to envision Williams being among the changes.

By this time, Williams had questioned the coaches’ scheme and substitution patterns. Most of all, he questioned how they were using him. Known for his pass-rushing ability, he said he probably set some kind of record with how often he had to drop into coverage in the Bengals’ game.

It was around then that Bills Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly said, “Didn’t we pay a lot of money for him to hit the quarterback?”

Over the final few weeks of the season, everyone knew somebody else would be paying Williams in 2016.